OnePlus

The OnePlus 2 may not arrive until August 11, but one of their lead OxygenOS designers just handed out the phone’s wallpapers ahead of time to “keep the hype up.” There are supposed to be 27 wallpapers in the bunch, but we’re only counting 25. Still, here are 25 free wallpapers that will probably look good on any device, not just the new OnePlus 2.

Below, we’ve put together a mini preview of the lot, but if you head through the download link, you can grab a .zip of all of the papers in full resolution.

You may not be interested in the OnePlus 2, but who can say “no” to hot wallpapers on a Saturday afternoon? (more…)

Now that the OnePlus 2 is official and arriving August 11 (be sure to see our hardware tour), the company is giving its biggest fans chances to win free phones. Through a contest of sorts under hashtag #WWYDFT2 (“What would you do for the 2?”), OnePlus is asking fans to complete any of 10 different tasks, film and submit the tasks being completed via the source link below, and then hope that enough people vote for them. If their submissions receive enough votes, they could win one of 22 handsets that are being given away. (more…)

The OnePlus 2 doesn’t have NFC, did you know that? Of course you did, because it’s all anyone can say in the comments when telling others why they aren’t buying one. OnePlus supposedly thinks that no one uses NFC, even though we are finally at a time where Apple has given in and begun using the tech to try and make mobile payments a major deal. OnePlus…they don’t care. Why include the tech when no one uses it?

(Because it probably costs pennies to include a damn NFC chip, that’s why. Add a freakin’ dollar to the price of your “flagship killer.” We’ll all pay to have a phone that isn’t crippled in the NFC department.)

Anyways, we are with most of you in that it seems quite ridiculous that OnePlus made an NFC decision for us based on who knows what kind of evidence of use. All I know, is that I like to make a mobile payment or two here or there and am disappointed that this phone, which should be incredible, won’t ever be able to.

So now we want to see votes. Would you buy a phone (could be any phone, not just the OnePlus 2) if it lacked NFC? What if the new Moto X or Galaxy Note 5 didn’t have NFC, would you still consider them?

We have two new flagship phones to ponder this week, and it’s only Tuesday. Last night, relative newcomer OnePlus announced the OnePlus 2, with its 5.5″ FHD display, Snapdragon 810 processor, USB Type-C, and fingerprint reader, declaring it as the “2016 flagship killer.” Early this morning, we have veteran OEM Motorola, introducing the Moto X ‘Style’, branded as the Moto X Pure Edition for the US. It features a 5.7″ QHD display, Snapdragon 808 processor, and 21MP rear-facing camera.

Both phones are reasonably affordable, with zero carrier involvement needed to buy one. The OnePlus 2 starts at just $329, while the Moto X Pure Edition will retail for $399, with additional storage upgrades costing a bit more. In comparison to flagship phones from Samsung, this $300-$400 range is extremely tempting for buyers, as the idea of no two-year commitment on a carrier to even afford the device is quite promising.

Each phone offers a few software tweaks on top of stock Android 5.1.1, meaning there are no custom skins to be found. Again, this is great news for Android fans.

If you had to choose, for the sake of this poll, which device would you purchase?

We’re continuing on here with this massive barrage of OnePlus 2 posts by taking a look at the phone’s software. As we mentioned in our hardware tour video, the OnePlus 2 runs OnePlus’ new OxygenOS 2.0, which has all sorts of upgrades over the 1.0 version that came on the OnePlus One. We actually joked a bit about v1.0 not really being much of a skin, but this 2.0 has plenty of goodies to help it stand out.

Think of the way Motorola does Android and you will have a pretty good idea of how OnePlus approached Android with this phone and v2.0. The skin comes off as almost pure stock Android, but OnePlus added in gestures, all sorts of controls over the phone’s navigation buttons (like long presses and double taps), icon pack support, a dark theme, a home page called Shelf (with recently used apps and contacts), and more.

Give the video a quick look and then let us know if you like this approach to Android better or Motorola’s. (more…)

This day wouldn’t be complete without a quick comparison of the OnePlus 2 to the original OnePlus One, would it? We have that for you below.

In this short video, we didn’t spend time running through benchmarks or showing you the major software differences (we’ll save that for our review) from one phone to the next. Instead, we really just wanted to show you a side-by-side hardware and design comparison to get the ball rolling.

You can see that these phones still look very similar, but the OnePlus 2 has been given the premium treatment with a metal frame, some added weight, an upgraded camera, and a fingerprint scanner that doubles as a home button. Next to each other, the untrained eye may not be able to tell the difference, but there are indeed plenty of changes for this year’s OnePlus phone.

For those obsessed with the little details about new phones, like the OnePlus 2, we have the full specifications list for you below.

These are the exact details given to us directly from OnePlus, so there shouldn’t be any errors here. You’ll find the dimensions, all supported wireless bands, specifics on the cameras, supported video and audio types, pixel density in the display, weight of the phone, and the goodies you’ll get in the retail box when your phone arrives.

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